


Some Nights

by arepitas



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Gen, Insomnia, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 14:47:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11969598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arepitas/pseuds/arepitas
Summary: Some nights it's hard to sleep.Three ficlets about Finn, Poe and Rey, who can't find sleep on the Resistance base for various reasons. Potential triggers tagged to be safe.





	Some Nights

**Finn  
**

Some nights the dark is too dark.

Stormtroopers weren't allowed to have nightlights. No matter their age. No matter their fear of the dark, or the memories of being taken. Once the lights were turned off, they remained so until the next morning. Simple bunk beds. Closed shutters. Maybe enough light to discern silhouettes but not enough to actually _see_. They weren't supposed to. They were supposed to sleep be well-rested the next morning. An average of seven-point-five hours is enough to recuperate the human body. That's what they told them anyway. And so the light was turned off. The dark was too dark.

So now, when he lies in his quarters at the base, Finn keeps a light on. The one that gives off just enough light to see. That way, when he lies awake and the guilt and the fear return, he can keep them at bay. He looks around, taking in his room, the trinkets that made it his own. Poe's old leather jacket, the little succulent Rey had potted and given him. A little ewok statuette. A model of Alderaan. Things he'd picked up during missions, here and there. All his own, proof of the new life he was leading.

He's here now, in his own bed. The light helps him rember that.

 

**Poe**

Some nights it's hard to breathe.

The nightmares come. Voices on comlinks; shouts of surprise followed by screams of pain. Drowned out helpless wails. The horrifying sound when x-wing fighters crash. People he was responsible for. Ugly memories. They crawl out from wherever corner in his mind he had last shoved them and close in on his throat and lungs. He sits up, trying to shake the feeling rummaging through his guts, his breath so shallow it barely lifts his chest.

On those nights, he opens the windows. He fills his lungs with cool night air. In, and out. Count seven in, eleven out. _Uno, dos, tres..._ He leaves the windows open, no matter the season. It's loud at the base, even at night, but he doesn't mind. When he feels his breath steadying, he makes his way back to bed.

There's something calming about the cool night air.

 

**Rey**

Some nights the noise is overwhelming.

Rey isn't used to it. On Jakku the nights were gloriously silent. Sometimes a caravan or a merchant passed by. Sometimes even another scavenger, but by now they knew to leave her alone. Nothing to get there anyway. And the girl knew how to handle herself.

Back when the heat was new and searing, the nights had brought much relief. When she would search the sky for a familiar ship, day and night. Any time now, they will come back. She never really stopped waiting while she was on Jakku. But she grew used to the silence of the night, only broken by animals stirring here and there. Creatures, yes, but no people.

The base, however, teems with life at night. People running around. Bringing news, shouting updates. Arriving, leaving. Shouts of laughter and relief on seeing someone return. Hushed promises by those who depart to be careful and come back. Others stay up, outside. Some sit drinking, talking. Laughter, when someone jokes - even songs, silly or nostalgic. Occasionally, a scream of someone waking up in terror, or receiving heartbreaking news.

There is no stillness on the base. On those nights, Rey tries to remind herself that company means noise. She is among people now.

Someone had come back for her, after all.


End file.
